Narrated to Janamejaya – The Hindu

Once, Vyasa’s disciple Romaharshana was telling other sages about Lord Narayana’s supremacy. He saw Balarama, Krishna’s elder brother, approach, but he did not stop his narration. Balarama felt insulted and he cut off the sage’s head with his axe. The other sages said there was no one to explain things to them, now that Balarama had killed the only knowledgeable person. Balarama regretted his hasty action, but he could not undo what he had done. So he transferred the dead man’s knowledge to his son Ugrashravas, also known as Suta Pauranika. The latter taught sage Saunaka and other rishis. Knowledge has come down to us from Saunaka and other sages, explained Thenthirupperai Aravindalochanan in a discourse.

Abhimanyu, who perished in the Kurukshetra war, was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra. Abhimanyu married Uttara and to them was born Parikshit. Parikshit married Madravati, and to them was born Janamejaya. Janamejaya married Vapushtama.

Thus, Janamejaya was a descendant of the Pandavas. Janamejaya performed a yaga. Vyasa visited him while he was doing the yaga. Janamejaya asked Vyasa to tell him the story of the Pandavas. Vyasa instructed his disciple Vaisampayana to narrate the story to Janamejaya. Vaisampayana narrated the Mahabharata to Janamejaya.

The Mahabharata has 18 parvas, each of which has sub-divisions known as upa parvas. Each upa parva in turn has many chapters. The Mahabharata has 2,000 chapters. The first parva is the Adi parva, which tells of how the Mahabharata was born, who Janamejaya was, and how Vaisampayana told the story of his ancestors. This parva traces the birth of the Pandavas, their growing up years, the enmity between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, and the division of the kingdom into two — one each for the Kauravas and Pandavas.